Background: Implementation of evidence-based medicine, in particular the conclusions from Cochrane reviews, is an essential part of improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients.

Objectives: A major objective of The Cancer Specialist Library (CSL) - part of the UK NHS National Library for Health (NLH) is the presentation of up-to-date evidence in an accessible format for health professionals. A new feature is a web-based service called National Knowledge Weeks (NKWs) which aim to highlight best current knowledge for key healthcare issues.

Methods: A pilot NKW on breast cancer was launched in October 2005 with the second for prostate cancer in March 2006. The Steering Group, included the CSL Project Team, an expert clinical lead and a major charity to provide 'user' input. A 'scope' was drawn up including topical areas. Approximately twenty health professionals were invited to form an advisory panel, and asked to suggest up to three topics, providing a paragraph for each, summarising why they should be considered for the NKW. If a topic was suggested by more than one contributor, the Steering Group edited this for the website. If a topic, considered important in the 'scope' was overlooked, the Steering Group invited a member of the advisory group to contribute. High quality searches were conducted to find the evidence for each topic.

Results: Each NKW was widely advertised by Cancer Networks, Cancer Services Collaborative and cancer charities. A web-based evaluation form is providing useful feedback regarding the initiative and the NLH provides statistics on the usage of the site.

Conclusions: National Knowledge Weeks have the potential to become a major route for the dissemination of evidence-based
practice in cancer care http://www.library.nhs.uk/cancer.